The Sea of Heavy Sighs
The Sea of heavy sighs once was a natural inlet of a vast ocean called the Vision Inlet, but at the coming of the tears, it became a cataclysm of organic mayhem. Multiple tears opened at various depths throughout its length and breadth. Multiple worlds were accessed, and thus had access to it. Foreign flora and fauna began to trickle through, and knowing it wouldn't take long for them to pour through, the dragons under the sea closed it off from the oceans and other waterways, permanently sealing it to its own private fate. The rerouting of rivers and other waterways altered the face of the land forever, and those who dwell around and within it named it the Sea of Heavy Sighs to keep a vigilant reminder of the catastrophe for the ages. Many of the sea dragons and their kingdoms have fallen to dark alien invaders from the tears.
Geography
A sea that was once an inlet, it has such a shape with an awkward-looking continent jammed at its former mouth. Without any water flowing in from a source outside the rains, it has diminished in depth noticeably; though not too extensively, since it also doesn't lose water to anything accept biological consumption and evaporation.
The sea is surrounded by nearly sheer walls of solid stone that run deep into the crusts of the earth to cut it off from underground waterways, and high into the sky to try and contain the area around even to the heavens. A wall alone would not have been strong enough, even at the three miles thick standard, to keep the sea from the ocean. Thus a new continent was raised from the depths to clog the mouth of the sea and stop any further extra-natural incursions.
The modern era clothes the region in vast cities carved of the wall rock and petrified mountains. A great tunnel breaches the miles of barrier with a mighty long city filling it from end to end. Inside and out kingdoms rise and fall at the whims of denizens ancient, old, and new, filling the area with ruins and life. Water still does not naturally flow in or out, so vast aqueducts of varied technology and magics flood the area with new cultivated life.
Fauna & Flora
Unless cultivated with great care nothing will grow on or in the wall or the petrified mountains. The line where their influence ends is noticeable by the sudden lush growth of verdant myriads and teaming animal life in exasperating variety. Life from the world in various eons (due to the sealing) mixing and mingling with life from the tears, and the after breach menagerie single out this region as one of the most exciting locations for ecologists, botanists, and biologists. Paleontology is another highly respected field in the area, along with the aforementioned sciences. Observatories and temples enjoy the view from the spires of the immense wall, along with many a creature den.
Natural Resources
Stone mines and quarries are abundant and well planed, as the trade also serves in the construction of waterways. Breaching the lifeblood that artificial waterways present is a grievous crime punishable by death. Water is valued always, especially freshwater. Desalinators are commonplace and salt, both sea, and rock is a mass export. Lime and other minerals as well as metals and stone types are a common export as well, valued the world over for the residual magic intrinsic to the resources. Fish and other seafood, as well as live sea life, are among the bulk of the trade. Aquariums and glasswork are also common.
Less common are the oversized cave lice which are viewed as a delicacy and tastes of a cross between lobster and crab. Sandbags are a local trade item as well but are less valued than the works of glass that can be states as unrivaled in the World. Jewelry is also less common, but a luxury export none the less in equity to the explosives produced.
History
The Vision Inlet was a nearly landlocked brackish sea, connected to the mirror ocean by a gorge delta waterfall and pass held saltwater river. Water flowed in and out from numerous terranean and subterranean watersheds, lakes, rivers, streams, and waterfalls. Water from the ocean traversed a northward pass west of the gorge fall to complete a cycle back into the sea, as well as via underground water inlets. The mountain cradled seaside valley boasted bountiful rainbow bedecked waterfalls, glittering flats, and lush wildlife and plant life. The catchment area hosting the bay was home to thriving small kingdoms, and in the sea, dwelt the kingdoms of several sea dragons and other water peoples.
Trade was profitable, and the realm was prosperous and joyous. One hundred thousand years before the Modern era this was the case, and for a couple of years after the tears, it remained so. However, in their wisdom, the dragons could see the danger to the world that the tears in their sea presented, and worked together to close off the sea from the world forever, not realizing that the tears were forming everywhere...
The wall of stone, three miles thick at its thinnest near the topmost spires, is much deeper at landfall, where it can be several former mountains thick. No longer the natural formations, the surrounding cradling mountains were petrified and solidified. This was done over the course of a year as the inhabitants were evacuated. Reaching underground, just as deep as high, to cut off subterranean estuaries, the wall is as thick below as the landfall areas above it. Due to the size of it, the weather around the wall and inside the wall is affected, though magic keeps the worst in check. Humans never saw the sea or its surroundings without the wall, as they evolved to a functional society building people 50,000 years after the raising of it. Consequently irreverent, they inhabited the area of the wall, and slowly wormed their way through, gaining the lost sea as a new human empire, except where elder things yet rule within.
Due to the lack of natural water flow, any who can bring water to the parched wall regions inside and out are venerated for their deeds of ability. Kings have been made of craftsmen and architects who have successfully fueled nations with their aqueducts and cisterns. Artificial estuaries and carved rivers can birth and sustain life, while the destruction of it can be certain death. The civilization born upon the region by the humans of 50,000 years before the modern era has grown to encompass many peoples, diversifying kingdoms and trade immensely.
30,000 years before the Modern Era (ME) civilizations banded together and began the great tunnel to breach the wall at ground level. 27,000 years before ME they completed it, as many wars created massive setbacks to the project. The tunnel city rose and fell along the way only becoming fully inhabited 12,000 Before ME (BME). For 2,000 years after the full tunnel habitation wars were fought over who could claim the sea and land inside. !0,000 BME the unicorn Council began influencing the area with vigor and having strong-armed the realm into peaceful coexistence, the 10,000 years of Peace and Prosperity bloomed imaginative innovation and invention in the region, and the local prosperity rivals now the days of yore when the sea was without a wall.
The Modern Era, now, things are less influenced by the crumbling unicorn Council, and new ways are seeking the spotlight with new found freedoms as yet fully untested.
Tourism
Along with the exotic fishing in its ages, long traditions, such as prizes for competitions, and rewards for something new, the realm of the Sea of Heavy Sighs offers much that any could desire. A spaceport is under construction, climbing various stairways and such to remote wall cities is a common challenge, scaling the wall a less common one, boating competitions and races rife with danger as the tears remain unchecked, tear exploration expeditions, ruin diving, regular diving, ruin spelunking and regular spelunking, the immense free and fair trade markets, the black markets, the tunnel city, the inner kingdoms, the wall kingdoms inside and out top to bottom, the outer farms, the hydroponic technologies, and just about any other standard attraction you could think of are the vibrant spectrum of wonders the area has to offer. Due to the defensibility of the area, many seek to find homes inside the tunnel city, as advances in lighting and pluming are comparable to our own world with obvious magical assistance.
Alternative Name(s)
The Vision Inlet
Type
Sea
Owner/Ruler
Owning Organization
Characters in Location
Inhabiting Species
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